Grain separator



April 10, 1956 TOSHIHIKO SATAKE GRAIN SEPARATOR Filed June l5, 1953 IN V EN TOR.

54TH KE finite States Patent 'GRAIN snPARAToR Y Toshihiko Satake, Hiroshima-ken, Japan Application June 15, 19573, Serial N 361,71 Claims priority, application Japan January 11,1953

Y 4 Claims. (Cl. 209-479) This invention relates to separation of grain or, more particularly, to a machine for separating grain from a grain mixture containing impurities and to a method of separating the same. In treating grain such as rice, wheat, barley, oats or beans to a marketable state after it is harvested and stored, it is common to have the grain in a refined state by separating and removing sand particles, fine stones, unhulled rice, bran, etc. contained in the grain mixture. However, there have been no machine and method for such separation and removal. Filtration by screens has been rather common for such purpose. However, said filtration by screens is only by the size of the grain particles and therefore cannot separate such impurities as fine stones which are higher in specific gravity but which may be of the same size as the particles of the basic grain. Thus, unhnlled rice or bran will not be separated if it is of the same particle size as the basic grain.

This invention can surely remove impurities which may be of the same size as the grain but are different in specific gravity or, in other words, which may not'b'e different in size from the grain but are diere'nt only in specific gravity.

An object of this invention is to provide an apparatus convenient to remove impurities from grain such as rice, wheat, barley, oats or beans'. j t

Further objects of this invention are to provide a method of and an apparatus for continuously performin the above treatment. f

This invention shall now be explained with yreference to the drawings which only show embodiments ofthis invention and to which, needless to say, this invention is its upper e'nd partis somewhat bent inwardly. Discharge tube 16 having its lower end at such a distance from the upper surface of said disc as will allow grain which is to be treated to flow out suicientlyon said disc is suspended above disc 12. SaidV tube 16 is coaxial with rotaryV disc 12' and ring shaped vertical wall 10. The lower part of said tube is flared in conformity with outside surface 17 of conical partv 14 of disc 12.

Therefore, the grain to be treated fed into tube 16 flows continuously down onto disc 12 out of the above flared part. In this case, disc 12 is fixed to a shaft rotated by a proper drivingmachine and therefore rotates. The grain mixture fed into filtration chamber l formed by vertical wall 10 and disc 12 therefore has the shape of ow adjusted by the resistance between the inside surface of vertical wall I and the mixture. Thus the part of resistance to ow and will b e subjected to a `greater centrifugal force. Therefore, it will cause la relative motion 'ice with the other partl of the grainl mixture, will move toward vertical wall 10 and will have a tendency to rise along said wall when it strikes against vthe wall, aow shown by arrow A is caused.

` In case the grain forming said ow is, for example, rice, unclean'ed rice will cause flow A, unhulled rice lighter than that will assemble in the upper layer part of ow A and, at apart nearer to thefcenter, revolutionary flow B will be produced. Therefore, if suction pipes 19 and 2t) opening toward those two flows suck up said ows respectively, the parts. of the grain forming those flows will be easily removed.

Heavy uncleaned rice can be automatically taken out of chamber 18 -through exhausting passage 21 provided near the upper part of Wall 1) rather than by suction.

The embodiment shown in Figure 2 is of a multiple type wherein several units are lapped vertically over one another, the apparatus shown in Figure 1 being one unit. in this apparatus, a grain mixture containing impurities is simultaneousiy fed to each chamber from a hopper disposed above overlapped chambers. 1n each chamber, the fed mixture is subjected to filtration. The filtrate grain and filtration residue from each chamber are separately collected through respective guide passages.

The apparatus shown in Figure 2 has cylindrical hase portion 22 and has horizontal shaft 23 driven by a proper driving source on the wall. Bevel gear 2d is fixed to Yhorizontal shaft 2 3 and is engaged with bevel gear 28 fixed to vertical shaft 27 borne between horizontal walls or support members 25 and 2,6 formed with a spacing left between them in base portion 22;

A support member formed in the upper part within` b'ase portion 22 bears the lower portion of the central rotating shaft 31 of this apparatus. Lower portion 32 of said shaft 31 extends below bearing means 33. Upper friction disc 34 which is similar to said lower friction disc 3i) is fixed to said lower portion 32. Upper and lower friction discs 34 and 30 have their respective annular grooves 35 and 29 facing each other. Two'rotating rolls 35 and 37 are disposed between these grooves and they outside peripheries of said rollers are in frictional contact with the grooves of saidk friction discs.

Rotating rolls 36 and 37 are pivoted by respective yokes 38 and 39. The shank portions of said yokes extend outwardly through the wall of base 22. Those extended parts have respective gears or worm wheels 40 and 41.

When gears or wheels 40 and 41 are rotated simultaneously in opposite directions at the same rate by means not shown, lfriction rolls- 36 and 37 vary their inclination an equal amount but in opposite directions. Therefore, the contact position of the respective rolls inV grooves 29 and 35 vary and thus', with a constantV rotation of disc 3l),

the rotation of disc 34 can be varied in accordance withy the inclination of rolls 36 and 37. As a result, the rotation per unit time of shaft 31 can be varied continuously without interruption.

The upper edge of base 22 has portion #i2 expanding radially in the shape of a circular flange. Said portion 42 forms the bottom part of the third chamber' C. Outside wall 43 of said third chamber is attached to the outside periphery ofl bottom plate 42. Cylindrical bearing member 44 is tixedto the inner periphery of bottom plate 42 f J and has upper bearing 45 for central shaft 31 at the upper f end of said member. Y Y

A conical central portion forming inside wall V46 of the third chamber C is iixed't'o shaft`31 just above bearing Y 45.' .Rotary disc 47 having-,an area suficient to cover 'the tally. A slight clearance exists between the back surface of disc 47 and *bottom* plate 42and disc 47 can rotate above plate 42.Y Cylindrical inside wall 4S formingrcham- Y ber C of aV cross-section Vlike `that of Va Vhopper opposite outside wall 43 projects from the upper surfaceY of rotating disc 47. The upper end of insidewall 4S is slightly Ywhole vsurface of said bottom plate42'is formed liorizron-` above the level of the upper end of outsidewallx43; Sev-` eralV separators 49 are provided to projectV outside said inside wall 48.` Cylindrical member 50Vwhich isintended to be a guide plate for the'feed of grain isiixed at the. outer endsof said separator. A ring' shaped passage is Y eformedY between said.` members 48 and 50 and serves to` Y guide the grain to be fed into the chamber C. The outside periphery of ring shaped horizontal plate 51 is fixed to the `upper edge of outside wall-43 of the chamber C. The

lower lend of outside wall 52 of second chamber B is supportedalong the inner periphery of said ring plate 51. As

a result, said outside wall 52 is stationarily mounted on base 22 through outside wall 43 of the chamber C.

The bottom plate of second chamber B is omitted and,

instead, rotary circular-disc 53 becomes a bottom plate.

Said rotary disc 53 is fixed to the shaft 31 at the center.

58 and wall 55 serves to feed grain' from above to chamber B. i

The upper edge of outside wall 52'ot` chamber 'BV supports the outer periphery of ring plate 60 'as inthe case Vtween it and wallf55. -Passage S9 formed by said' plate of chamber C. Said ring plate 60 supports-at its inner: 7

, Vperiphery the lower end portion of inverter-conical ring shaped outside wall 61 of chamber A. Chamber A, like chamber B, has no bottom plate, rotary disc 62 serving as a bottom plate. Said rotary disc 62 is tixedto shaft 31 at its center'so as to rotate withthe rotation of said Y. shaft 31. 'i'his'is the same'as in discs 53 andy-47. Two Vcircular passages 63 and 64 having common separating wall or internal wall 66 thrust through rotary disc 62 Yat the central part.. Passages 63 and 64 are formed of three outwardly inclined circular- Walls formed in one bodyV together with disc 62, namely, outside wall internal :wall 66 and inside wall 67. Ring-shaped vertical plate 69 is tixed to the ouside surface of outside wall 65 through Vseveral separators 68. Said plate 69 forms Vfeeding guide .70 between it and outside wall 65 in cooperation withisaid wall 65.

Outside wall 61 of rst chamber A supports cover plate 71 at its upper edge portion. Said cover plate 71 has opening 72 at its center and has cap member 73 covering said opening 72 thereon. Said cap Vmember 73 covers all of passages 63, 64 and 70 and supports hopper 74 at its upper end portion. A distributing chamber is formed i within said cap member 73. Upper portion 75 of shaft 31 projects into said distributing chamber and has rotaryV distributor 76 which consists of pot portion 77 opposite the opening of hopper 74 for feeding grain and distributing outlet 78 projecting outward and downward diagonally from said pot portion. Said outlet 78 rotates with the rotation of shaft 31 and spreads the grain fed torhopper 74 in distributing chamber 79. By this spreading action of outlet 78, grain is fed to'each of passages 63 and 64.

Y In order to prevent the tendency of grain being not fed Y Y4, Y Y to outmost passage70, arc hopper rcovering about one third the periphery is provided between upper part of the shaft and the inner wall of cap member 73. result, when rotating outletV '78 is passing in saidV arc hopper 80, grain is fed lonly into said outmost feeding passage 70. l

Shutter valve 82 is pivotedvorn the inner wall of -part 8.1Y i Y connecting cap member 73 and storage Vhopper 74 in Asaid part. Said valve 8 2 is opened or closed by means lof screw rod S3 inserted through said wall from outside.

VScrew rod S5 is vertically inserted at shoulder 84'ofjcap member 73 forming thedistributing chamber. 'Said screw rod 85, when screwed into the chamber, stops'the rotation of rotary distributor 76. `in order to be stopped inde pendently of *the rotation of shaft -31 in this way, said rotary distributor has part 86 'of a reduced Vdiameter at the' upper end oi upper part 7S of shaft 31 slidably and 'rotatably inserted therein and is pressedagainstftheshoulder of part 75 of said shaft by means'of Vspring 8S between it and nut S7 screwedfon part 86. Outlet pipes'89, 9!)

and 91 are formed and aligned vertically nearthe respective upper edges of outside walls 43, 52 and 61 of said Vchambers A, B and C, respectively. Said pipesr89, 90 and 91 communicate with common pipe '92 which hask delivery opening 93 at the lower end. Outside walls43, 52Y and 61 of chambers A, B and C, respectively, support suction pipes 94, 95 and 96-opening near inner walls 50, 58 Vand 69, respectively, of said chambers. SaidV pipes 94,1 95 and 96 are collected into common pipe 97 outside chambers A, B and C, respectively. The outlet of saidcommon pipe 97 is connectedwith the inlet of cyclone 98. Suction pipe 99 hangs downfrom above in said cyclone'93 as in any ordinary cyclone. Saidpipe 9 9 is connected with a proper vacuum source (not shown) through pipe 160.

Y A grain mixture fed by hopper 74 to besubjected to the separating treatment is first of all introduced into the dis-- tributing chamber by the rotation. of rotary distributor 76. A part of the mixture comes into chamber A'through ipassage 70. In chamber. A, themixture is subjected'to the separating action on rotating disc 62 as shown in theY above with reference to Figure l; Then, the part of the' mixture high in speciiicgravity orfor example, unhulled lrice moves outward in the chamber, rises by being guided Von the inner surface of wall 61 and is taken out by delivery pipe 89. Unhulled rice particles low in specic gravity and high in frictional coetiicient move to the upper layer inside the cycling ow of the uid in the chamber, are sucked into suction pipe 96 opening in this part, arrive at cyclone ,Y Y

98, are therein separated from uncleaned rice or others high in specific gravity which 4had been mixed by mistake and are sent to a collecting place.

Rotary distributor 76, as it rotates, leaves arc hopper 80 and introduces the grain mixture into passages 63 and 64.Y The grain mixture coming into passage 63 enters chamber C through passage 56 where it is treated justthe same as in chamber A. The mixture coming into passage 64 enters chamber B and is subjected toA the Same treatment as in chamber Af VThe vgrain highin specific gravity from each chamber flows out through pipe 93. The grain low` in speciiic gravityfand vhigh in frictional coeicient is sucked by suction` pipe 97 and is `sent to cyclone 98. Y

As mentioned above, grain can be easily separated ac vcording to difference inv specific gravity and frictional coefficient from a grain .mixture of particles different in specific gravity. The outside' Wallis stationary in the i above explanation but may be made to rotate in the direction reverse 'to that of the rotation of the disc. Y

While the three-step type apparatus is shown as an exact embodiment, it is needless to say that the apparatus of this invention may be of two or more than three step type without deviating from the spirit ofthe invention.

I claim:

1. A grain separator comprising a treating chamber consisting of a stationary outside .wall and a rotary bot Asa` tom disc within the periphery of said wall and contiguous therewith, a means of delivering grain to be separated by said separator disposed over said disc at the center of said chamber and a means of removing grain low in speciiic gravity and high in frictional coefficient disposed near the center in the upper part of said chamber.

2. A grain separator comprising a stationary outside wall expanding outwardly and upwardly, a rotary disc fitted within the peripheral lower end portion of said outside wall to form a separating chamber, a means of feeding a grain mixture to be treated to said chamber, said means opening above the central part of said disc, a means of discharging grain high in specific gravity provided in said outside wall and a means of removing grain low in speciiic gravity disposed near the center in the upper part of said chamber.

3. A grain separator comprising a base portion, a rst outside stationary wall xed above said base portion, a second outside stationary wall xed above said first outside wali, a third outside stationary wall xed above the second outside Wall, a shaft having its lower end supported by said base portion extending axially through said outside walls, a rst rotary disc on said shaft Within the lower periphery of said rst outside wall forming with said f rst outside wall a third chamber, the secondrotary disc on said shaft within the periphery of said second out side wall and having a passage therein to feed untreated grain to the third chamber and forming with said second said shaft within the periphery of said third outside wallV and having two passages therein to feed untreated grain to said second and third chambers and forming with said third outside wall a tirst chamber, a rotary distributor mounted on said shaft above said first chamber to feed untreated grain to said irst chamber and to said `two passages, a storage hopper disposed above said distributor, and means in each chamber to remove separated grain from each chamber.

4. A grain separator as claimed in claim 3 in which the means in each chamber to remove separated grain comprise an outlet pipe for removing separated grain high in specific gravity, said outlet pipe being provided in the upper part of the outside stationary wall of each chamber, and a suction pipe for each chamber being sup ported by each of said walls and opening near the inside of and in the upper part of each chamber.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 439,173 Newbery oct. 2s, 1890 466,730 Vellines Jan. 5, 1892 468,865 Berg Feb. 16, 1892 1,783,357 Cook Dec. 2, 1930 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,893 Great Britain Feb. 2, 1891 

